The team behind Liverpool’s immersive Alcatraz experience are back with a new adventure to the Wild West.
Moonshine Saloon invites guests to showcase their bootlegging skills by bringing their own alcohol to become the heart of a covert smuggling empire, led by the King of the Moonshiners, Clyde Cassidy.
Originally designed as a pop-up experience, Moonshine Saloon started in London and has since gone on to become one of the city’s highest-rated cocktail experiences and has been featured on Channel 4's Celebs Go Dating.
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Within the saloon, outlaws can rub shoulders with the local characters, try their luck at card or dice games, and even receive a close-up inspection of Cassidy’s notorious Moonshine Distillery.
Throughout the experience, visitors are served bespoke cocktails that are prepared by a team of mixologists and barkeeps who combine your smuggled alcohol with bitters, syrups, liqueurs and garnishes to make contemporary and classic drinks.
Before you can step through the saloon doors you're greeted on the street and given a brief rundown of what to expect. The experience kicks off from here as you're slapped in the face with a heavy Western accent whether you're ready for it or not. After agreeing to the terms and conditions, you're ushered in and given proper attire - ponchos and cowboy hats.
In a few minutes, you're inundated with greetings from the colourful cast accompanying you throughout the experience. Ada, a humble church girl at the centre of the plot, and Johnny, the town idiot and pig fan, are polar opposites but cater to different preferences your group may gravitate toward.
The sheriff and Clyde are big players in the story and you see tensions rise throughout the 90-minute experience. You have to keep the moonshine hidden from the sheriff's knowledge while the mystery of who killed Ada's father lingers in the air. Luckily, you can enjoy it unfold from the comfort of your table complete with card games, dice, cash and numerous cocktails that arrive without request. Every so often the cast will ramp up the story with another hefty revelation but there is an opportunity for individual activities such as bargaining with Clyde or interrogations from the sheriff - the latter ends in a photo op in front of a decked-out Western backdrop.
Without spoiling details of the mystery or whether the sheriff discovers the moonshine in the saloon, the experience is hysterical. None of the characters break despite everything you throw at them. There's a playful back-and-forth heightened by a cheeky smirk now and again from cast members that tells you everyone is here for a good time and it shouldn't be taken seriously. An immersive experience like Moonshine Saloon may feel award at first but after your first drink, you're all in on it together.
The climax of the evening is an old-school Western standoff with brawling, gunfire and hysterics that had the entire room in genuine gasps, cheers and shock. You'll have to experience it for yourself to see exactly what went down in the Moonshine Saloon but it's very much worth it.
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